Online retailer CSN Stores relaunches as Wayfair.com

Retail Editor 1 -- Home Textiles Today, September 1, 2011

Boston - Online retail powerhouse CSN Stores - the second largest online seller of home furnishings in the U.S. - officially relaunched itself as Wayfair.com today, consolidating more than 200 product sites into one megasite, with more than 4.5 million items and 5,000 brands. In a release, the company called the move a "major strategic development," adding that the company is on course to top $500 million in sales this year. The new site includes a new tagline, "a zillion things home," Wayfair.com, the company said, will expedite searches for items while giving consumers broader browsing ability to view other home-related categories, including furniture and décor, cookware, lighting, tools and flooring. The rebranding follows the $165 million in funding CSN raised in June from private equity firms Battery Ventures, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Spark Capital. That funding, which the company called a "first round," is supporting the transition, "appropriate acquisitions, and other plans for corporate expansion in the U.S. and globally," the company said.To accelerate and manage its growth, the company said it plans to hire as many as 200 additional people by yearend, after more than doubling its staff in the past two years. The additional hires will bring the number of employees up to more than 1,000.Wayfair said that in the past two years as CSN Stores, the company has grown more than 50% annually.